Livada Lake (Thrapsano)
The lake of Livada is located at the homonym position 1km north of the village Thrapsano and is one of the favorite places for locals to walk. The small lake covers only 21.000 sq.m. but is an important wetland, where more than 130 species of birds have been recorded.
Thrapsano is the Cretan "village of potters”, where pottery tradition holds since the Minoan times, 4000 years ago! Even the creation of the pond has been linked to the tradition of Thrapsano pottery. Indeed, according to a tale, once the site of Livada belonged to a Turkish aga. He demanded from the potters of Thrapsano to pay a percentage for selling pots made of the soil of the Livada region. So, over time, as the soil of Livada was removed, a large pit was formed, that is the current pond Livada!
In 1960 the lake was 100,000 cubic meters, while in 2000 the capacity was artificially increased to 210,000 cubic meters. Today the pond is included in environmental projects, while the local authorities have planted trees, and have built an outdoor pottery museum and workshop.
